Saturday, December 2, 2006

In the Wake of a Big Season...

It was a terrible, painful-to-watch game in Jacksonville, but Wake Forest winning the ACC championship could have big implications for Vanderbilt football. The Dores will have their sights set on a bowl game next year, and an out-of-conference schedule that includes what will likely be a preseason-Top 25 Wake Forest team (picking up the slack for a 1-AA Richmond team and a pair of Mid-American cupcakes in Eastern Michigan and Kent State) will help bolster the SOS. It's also a great exposure game that could be a must-win, coming as it does on the last Saturday in November.

As for Wake -- I'm happy for them but not happy that we've got a tough OOC opponent. Until we reach a bowl we have no business playing any good OOC opponents. I took the opposite view with Michigan because I thought this season was a waste anyway, but events proved me wrong, and it would have been horrid to get a 5th win over Ole Miss or someone and know that we shut ourselves out with scheduling. (Of course MTSU is no pushover either.)

I agree with Shamus on the fact that this will help bolster us next year on our run for a bowl bid.

Wake Forest is a good team, but the ACC was down this year to say the least, and I believe it's a team that we can certainly run with. They lose starting wide-out Willie Idlette, but will be returning starting tailback Micah Andrews and will have a QB controversy between Ben Mauk and Riley Skinner. Our offense will be improved next year, as we will be throwing Jonathan Massey somewhere in the mix and Nickson and Bennett both return. While I won't go so far as to say it's evenly matched, Wake Forest is not a team of superstars. They are extremely well-coached, but let's not forget that we beat the Deacs last year to open our season. We can play in this game, just like we play in every other game against SEC opponents.

With our schedule, we are more than capable of picking up six victories next year. But as every coach in America will agree, it starts in the off-season, and I'm sure our boys will do the work to get to the next level.

I don't have much to say, other then I fully believe that it's terrific that a program such as Wake, who has been a perrenial dormat in the ACC, gets their shot. Yes, I know the ACC was down this year, but hey, give 'em some love. They're gonna be blown out by Louisville. It should also give hope to Vandy fans everywhere that we'll have our day sometime.

Now, when Duke wins the ACC Football title, Hell will have officially frozen over.